Removable runway



April 29, 1952 H. GREENBERG REMOVABLE RUNWAY Filed Jan. so, 1948 I INVENTOR. fiqiwz/z Patented Apr. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REMOVABLE RUNWAY Hymen Greenberg, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 30, 1948, Serial No. 5,302

2 Claims. (01. 16-1) This invention relates to a removable runway and protector for the edges of a carpet, rug, mat or the like.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a plate readily securable to and detachable from the edge of a carpet or rug, whichacts as a runway and protector to enable the wheels or -rollers of a vehicle, bed or the like to pass over the edges of the carpet without entangling therewith and crumpling the rug edges.

Another object is to provide a removable runway for rugs, carpets and the like, which will not deface or mark up the rug to which it is applied, which is very simple and easy to attach and which is very economical to manufacture.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view showing a pair of my runways secured to the edge of a carpet.

Fig. 2 is a View taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the plate.

Fig. 4 is a view of a modified form of construction, and

Fig. 5 is a top view showing a long single plate which can be used in lieu of a plurality of narrower plates as in Fig. 1.

In apartments which have day beds or foldaway beds which are pulled out each night, the rollers in passing over the edges of the carpet or rug will entangle therewith and crumple the edges of the rug, which necessitates lifting the Y bed over the carpet edges. This is too strenuous for the lady of the house and usually requires two people for this task. With my invention this is eliminated as I provide a runway which is readily securable to the edge of a carpet, which permits the rollers of the bed to pass from the floor to the carpet without entangling and crumpling the edges thereof.

The preferred embodiment of myinvention is illustrated in Fig. 1 and I provide a pair of plates [0 and I2 of identical construction which are secured to the edges of the rug in spaced relation to permit the wheels or rollers of a bed or the like to pass thereon.

The plate is preferably made of one piece of metal material and is stamped or shaped to provide a substantially flat surface M, an inclined or downwardly bent front edge l6 and a slightly inclined or downwardly bent rear edge IS. The plate is out along a portion of its length as at and. 22 to provide strips which are bent rear- Wardly under the plate to form a pair of gripping fingers 24 and 2G. The gripping fingers are spaced from the underside of the plate to provide in effect a pocket 28 for receiving the edge of the rug. The gripping fingers are curved or bowed as best shown in Fig. 2 so that they incline upwardly as at 30 and then downwardly as at 32. They terminate inwardly of the rear edge of .the plate. This facilitates the insertion of the plate on the rug and also permits the rear edge of the plate to sink into the rug as indicated at 34.

The plate is readily securable to the edge of the rug by positioning it adjacent the edge between the top plate and the gripping fingers and pushing it inwardly until the edge of the rug 35 engages the curved end 36 of the gripping fingers. The fingers have a plurality of raised projections 38 or a roughened surface which engages the underside of the rug to more securely hold the plate to said rug.

In Fig. 4 I show a modified form of construction whereby the plate has a pair of independently formed gripping fingers 40 (one of which is shown) which are secured as by rivets 42 to the plate. The gripping fingers are bowed as at 44 to provide a space between the fingers and the underside of the plate. The fingers are positioned on the opposite ends of the plate similar to the fingers 24 and 26. The plate is slipped on the edge of the rug so that the rug occupies the space between the fingers and the plate. The fingers are made preferably of spring steel and have sufiicient resiliency to provide a perfect gripping contact.

In Fig. 5 is shown a slightly modified form of runway plate similar to that of Fig. 1. Instead of using a plurality of plates in spaced relation to each other as shown in Fig. 1, I provide a long single plate 50 which is secured to the edge .of the rug. The shape of this plate is similar to the smaller plates Ill and I2 shown in Fig. 1 and the sides are cut and bent to provide gripping fingers 52 similar to the gripping fingers 24 and '26. Intermediate the sides of the plate another gripping finger 54 is formed from the plate material and is shaped similar to the end fingers. Additional gripping fingers can be struck out along the length if desired. These will grip the edges of the rug and secure the runway thereto, as previously described.

It will be noted that both the front and rear edges of the plates are inclined permitting the rollers to pass easily over the plate in both directions. Also that approximately one-half the length of the plate extends forwardly of the edge of the rug. This permits the front portion of the plate to have a more gradual incline than that shown if desirable and also provides for a firmer and more securer attachment to the rug.

The gripping fingers shown in the various structures have suflicient resiliency to permit the plate to be readily inserted on the edge of the carpet and at the same time to be readily removed from the carpet if desired.

With this construction it is possible to readily attach the plate only at such time that it is desired to have the day bed or foldaway bed pass thereover and to remove same from the rug edge during the daytime. When the plates are removed from the rug, there is no defacement or marking of the rug.

I claim:

1. A removable edge protector for rugs or similar articles comprising a sheet metal plate member having the leading and trailing marginal edges thereof inclined downwardly at a gradual angle out of the plane of said plate member, gripping finger struck out from said Plate member and reversely bent under said plate member in the direction of the trailing edge thereof, said fingers and said plate adapted to engage the mar-aginal edge of a rug or similar article.

2. A removable edge protector for rugs or similar articles comprising a sheet metal plate member having the leading and trailing marginal edges thereof inclined downwardly at a gradual angle out of the plate of said plate member, gripping fingers attached to said plate member and extending in the direction of the trailing edge thereof, said fingers and said plate adapted to engage the marginal edge of a rug or similar I article.

HYMEN GREENBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 273,300 Page Mar. 6, 1883 610,807 Grinsfelder Sept. 13, 1898 1,114,319 Wagner Oct. 20, 1914 1,568,303 Webster Jan. 5, 1926 1,576,527 McBride Mar. 16, 1926 1,847,373 Awbrey Mar. 1, 1932 2,184,569 Stewart Dec. 26, 1939 2,258,314 Bonnell Oct. 7, 1941 2,449,904 Lorraine Sept. 21, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain July 5, 1934 

